Final SW Regional Report

[Netnorske]

Well guys and gals....this is my final report on my 10-day trip to the KawaNOW Southwest Regional Rally. As you can imagine, it was a fantastic trip, the incident in La Grande, OR notwithstanding... ::). Hope you enjoy the photos. You can see all the SW Region photos at the following link....

http://s990.photobucket.com/albums/a...uthwestRegion/



Day 1- Lynnwood, WA to La Grande, OR

Left work about 9:30 and headed for La Grande, OR with a brief stop in Yakima to meet up with fellow Nomad owner and Kawanow member Mike Mara for a nice lunch. Mike rode back to Tri-Cities with me before splitting off for home as I continued south.


Mike and me in Yakima, WA




Once in La Grande, I found my hotel and checked in. Upon getting my key, I rode slowly through the lot toward my room when a car suddenly backed out of his stall and hit me in my left front engine guard. It was kind of a freak thing as neither of us saw the others action and it just happened. We traded info and the engine guard was the only damage to the bike. I rode to an auto body place where they used a long bar to help straighten the engine guard to a ride-able position again.

When the car hit, the bike wanted to go over on its right side, so I instinctively put my right leg down to stop it from going over. This only served to severely strain my right hamstring, which is still sore as of this writing. It was very tough to get on and off the bike for the next several days, but I managed okay. The leg definitely took the worst of the encounter, but it could have been much worse!

Day 2- La Grande, OR to Ogden, UT

Not much to tell about this ride other than it was a long day on the Interstate. I did however meet up with Bud Smalley (Idaho-High Plains Drifter) and his friend Jack in Declo, ID. We rode about 100 miles together (mostly on the old highway) to Tremonton, UT and had a great lunch along the way. At Tremonton, Bud and Jack headed back north while I proceeded south on I-15 to Ogden for the night.


Me and Bud at our lunch spot in southern Idaho....




Day 3- Ogden, UT to Cortez, CO

This was a great run. I met fellow Kawanow members Tombstone (Ken) and Utah Motorcyclist (Jared) first thing in the morning, where we shared a great breakfast at a café near Jared’s new home before heading off for Cortez. The three of us arrived in Cortez about 5:00 pm and were greeted by lots of other Nomad riders. It was great seeing all those bikes. Seems we were the last to arrive as everyone else was already there. We all ran to a place called Blondie’s for a group dinner which was cool, then we partied hard.... ;)!


Ken on I-70 heading toward Cortez....





Jared on I-70.....





Guess where.....??








Day 4 – Cortez, CO (Rally Day 1)

Arose to gorgeous sunshine, got fueled up (both stomach and gas tank) as we headed out at about 9:00 as one big group toward Moab, UT and Arches National Park. It was awesome riding in a pack of about 15 Nomads! Arches NP is one very cool place, totally different from anywhere I had ever been. We got lots of great photos and it was just a fantastic day with a late lunch at the Moab Brewery.


Later that night, Daryl (Audiogooroo) and I went to a place called the Dry Dock and had a great dinner while the rest of the crew ordered pizza to the hotel. The beer and Tequila was freely flowing and the motel was perfectly set up for pulling up chairs in front of the bikes and rooms!


Shots taken at Arches NP....



















Day 5 – Cortez, CO (Rally Day 2)

Awoke to another grand blue sky kind of day, but with a bit of a hangover. A little breeze in my face took care of that soon enough, and the group headed east toward Durango, then headed north up Hwy 550 to run the “Million Dollar Highway”. The actual MDH is the section of 550 from Silverton to Ouray, CO that cost over $1M per mile to build in the 1930’s due to the amount of blasting needed to complete it. It is an incredible road, with many shear drop-offs and no guard railings, not to mention many 180 to 225 degree 10 mph hairpin corners. The mountain scenery tops off an already very challenging yet exhilarating ride. Had a great lunch in Ridgeway, then completed the loop by riding back down 145 past Telluride back to Cortez. We shared another group dinner at Tequila’s Mexican Restaurant in Cortez, then of course more partying at the motel. Another outstanding day!


Along the Million Dollar Highway....
















Day 6 – Cortez, CO (Rally Day 3)

On this morning about half of our group headed for home, leaving only Cactusjack, Wanderer, Waterman, USRanger, Ells and myself to carry the load for the day. CJ led us west into the desert country with Monument Valley as our destination. What a great ride out there! The red rock monoliths are really something to see out there in the middle of nowhere! Just as we got close to the monuments, a big wind storm kicked up and lasted the rest of the day, making for some tough riding conditions. We pressed on however and continued our mission into Shiprock, NM. Although the Four Corners Monument was closed, we managed to ride in CO, UT, AZ and NM all in the same ride, so we got a real Four Corner experience anyways!


Monument Valley Ride.....


















Day 7- Cortez, CO to Pocatello, ID

This was my longest day at 510 miles, not all of it Interstate, so I needed to get an early start. I set my alarm for 5:00, but woke up at 4:00, so by 4:45am I was loaded and ready to roll. It was still very dark out, so I followed a car out of town and kept pretty close behind it for an hour or so to use him as a deer guard. It was only 6:30 when I arrived in Moab, UT, so I took a longer more scenic run back through a Colorado River Canyon that was very alluring in the morning sun. I took my time and got some good pics in there before hitting I-70 and the throttle! Nothing but sunshine all day long!


In the canyon along the Colorado River.....





Once in Orem, UT I stopped in at Jared’s for a butt break and to see his new place. He and his wife are fixing it up to rent the lower portion out to college students. It will be a nice deal for him to help pay his mortgage! Once I left Jared’s, I pretty much hauled ass up I-15 through Salt Lake City toward Pocatello. I ran into another Nomad rider just getting off the Interstate, so I exited with him. We chatted for about 20 minutes or so as he had never heard of KawaNOW. I finally arrived in Pocatello about 4:30 pm. I found a great little karaoke place there that night and had a good time for sure!





Day 8- Pocatello, ID to Missoula, MT

This was the day I had been really looking forward to. I had prayed for a decent day weather-wise and those prayers were answered. I have long wanted to ride up Hwy 93 along the Salmon River and this was the day I was going to do it. I awoke to a grand blue sky, fueled up and headed out across the high desert country to Arco, ID, where Hwy 93 really begins. From this point on I was simply amazed for the next 200 miles! You leave Arco heading north into a vast mountain valley on a lonely two-lane road with more eye candy than one can imagine. Snow covered peaks to your right and large ranches to your left.

Once past the town of Challis, the road becomes twistier as it follows along the Salmon River, which was flowing high with the spring run-off. Sometime along here, I became somewhat drowsy, so I found the perfect spot to pull my bike about 200’ off of the road and laid down in the grass next to it for a great 45 minute nap! Waking refreshed, I was off to complete the mission and rolled into the town of Salmon, ID a short time later. While fueling I met another rider who was about a week into an annual three-week solo adventure!

Once north of the town of Salmon, Hwy 93 turns away from the river and heads up into the mountains. At this point you are following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they too turned from the river at this point and headed north up that very route to cross the Continental Divide at Lost Trail Pass on the Montana/Idaho border. I am a bit of a L&C buff, so I thought that was very cool. Once on the Montana side, it is pretty run along the Bitterroot River right into Missoula.

My favorite stretch of the entire run was from Arco to Salmon, ID. This is a must-ride section for all of you with an active “Bucket List”. If I had only one road to ride for the rest of my lifetime, this just might be it. That section of road is nothing less than motorcycling nirvana, with every imaginable condition you could ask for, long straight’s, lazy sweepers, tight twisty’s, super scenery, great road surface and best of all, basically zero traffic! To ride it on a perfect, cloudless day was more than I could have dreamed.

A taste of Idaho Hwy 93.... .....















Lost Trail Pass......




Day 9- Missoula, MT to Wenatchee, WA

I slept like a log in Missoula and awoke to yet another spectacular day! I jumped on I-90 for a quick trip to Coeur D’Alene, ID where I stopped in at Delivery 58’s (Vince’s) place just off the Interstate. After a brief layover there, he joined me for a ride to Spokane where we met Duneseven (Randy) at the Skyway Café at Felt’s Field for what was a great meal. It was nice to finally meet those guys and spend a little time talking Nomads! After lunch, I continued east on Hwy 2 before turning south at Davenport on 28 down through Odessa, where I stumbled upon a big bike rally there. I saw a parked Nomad with a trailer, but could not locate the owner so I just left a card on his bike. I finally rolled into Wenatchee about 6:00pm or so after a lazy ride across from Missoula.


Delivery58 (Vince)....





Duneseven (Randy)....





Tres Hombres.....




Day 10- Wenatchee, WA to Everett, WA

My good weather luck finally ran out as I awoke to a wet morning and my first clouds in 6 days! I donned my rain gear and rode the last few hours of my trip across Stevens Pass in a pretty steady rainfall. The rain gear did its thing however and I arrived safely home in Everett at about 10:30 am. What a great trip it turned out to be…everything I had hoped and more. I can’t wait until the NW Rally in Kalispell. That should be a really good time as well!

That's it....hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I did making them! Hope to see many of you soon for the NW Regional Rally this August!

Cheers.....Kris

[audiogooroo]

Great report Kris! Looking forward to riding with you again man!

[ballast]

Nice report! Not long till your next rally.

[duneseven]

Great pics Kris except that goofy looking guy at the end. I enjoyed meeting you and vinnie for lunch I wish I had more time to spend, maybe ride a couple miles ,maybe next time.
Thanks

[waterman]

Very nice pictures there Kris. I wonder who took the ones at Monument Valley. ::) I have one question for you. You have a picture of Jared (ARL) but no pictures of the RL? :'(

Looking forward to riding with you again.

[schoeney]

What a great ride. I have noted your mntion of HWY 93 in Idaho. I will give it a go before the year is out.

Thanks for the report and pics.
Greg

[rickyboy]

Good stuff Kris, it sounds and looks like you had a great time.Very nice report. It's nice meeting the KawaNOW bros isn't it? I hope to see a lot more at Kalispell. Thanks for sharing.

Oh!! and Jared you look like you could do with a trunk for your ride. I know where you can get an ''84 Venture trunk" my friend.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by rickyboy ... #00722

Good stuff Kris, it sounds and looks like you had a great time.Very nice report. It's nice meeting the KawaNOW bros isn't it? I hope to see a lot more at Kalispell. Thanks for sharing.

Oh!! and Jared you look like you could do with a trunk for your ride. I know where you can get an ''84 Venture trunk" my friend.

Shameless plug, Rick? ::)

[rickyboy]

??? Just trying to help a brother out Scott. ;)

[Netnorske]

Originally Posted by waterman

Very nice pictures there Kris. I wonder who took the ones at Monument Valley. ::) I have one question for you. You have a picture of Jared (ARL) but no pictures of the RL? :'(

Looking forward to riding with you again.

My bad.....LOL....only because I rode with him to Cortez...!! So as not to be left out, here is the esteemed RL for the SW Region...Waterman (Joel) !

I had a blast and you guys did a great job. That will be a tough act to follow in Kalispell for sure... !

[waterman]

We will send Ells up there to help with the refreshments. ;) It's not that hard, good location with good eating joints and plenty to drink always works. We will have to see what we can do for next year together.

[elvis]

Kris, a great trip, a great write up. I've made a mental note of HWY 93, ID. Thanks for sharing.
E.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by rickyboy ... #00722

Good stuff Kris, it sounds and looks like you had a great time.Very nice report. It's nice meeting the KawaNOW bros isn't it? I hope to see a lot more at Kalispell. Thanks for sharing.

Oh!! and Jared you look like you could do with a trunk for your ride. I know where you can get an ''84 Venture trunk" my friend.

I'd love a trunk if it came with the same paint job as the rest of the bike. There's no way I'm going to try to match it.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by waterman

Very nice pictures there Kris. I wonder who took the ones at Monument Valley. ::) I have one question for you. You have a picture of Jared (ARL) but no pictures of the RL? :'(

Looking forward to riding with you again.

I'm just better looking!

[Jared]

Great write-up, Kris! Your whole trip looks like it was amazing!